Help!!!!!!! I have Ich

[mbrady]

Help, I have Ich and do not know what to do now.

I am relatively new to this hobby. (2 Years) I have a 90 Gallon tank with 90 pounds of live rock, a trickle filter along with a protein skimmer and UV sterlizer.

1 Yellow Tang
1 Hipo Tang
1 Marine Beta
1 Coral Beauty
1 Royal Gromy
1 Clown

I just added the Yellow Tang and Hippo Tang to the display tank.
I routinely quartine my new fish for two weeks and they showed no signs of Ich. After three days in the display tank the Hipo has what appears to be ich on its body. The yellow tang has ich on its gill fins and also on its body.

There were no signs of ich being present before I added the yellow tang and Hippo to the display tank.

I have had ich problems in the past and almost quit the hobby.
My tank sat dormat for most of the summer before I statred it back up with new fish in Sept.

I have treated the tank with a product I found on the internet (no sick Fish) It is now day seven and I see no real signs of improvement.

Has anyone had any experience with this product. Does it work???

What other suggestions might be offered??

I have thought of chassing the Yellow tang & hipo down and moving to a quartine tank but I still have the problem of the ich being present in the display tank. And I thought it just would stress tem out even more.

Thank you for any help that may be offered.

Mike

 

[Percula9]

If the fish are still eating, soak food in garlic extreme for 20 min and feed 5 to 6 times a day. Just a little each time. The garlic is an immune booster, help them fight it off. Qt for a month at least, before placing in the display.

 

[mbrady]

Thank you for the quick reply.

All the fish seem to eating. I am soaking Mysics shrimp and krill in garlic exterme for about one to two hours and feeding them twice a day. Twice a day is the best I can do I am work the rest of the day.

As to how long I should Qt new fish thank you for the suggestion.
My LFS had suggested two weeks.

 

[Percula9]

The life cycle of ich is 6-12 days. Tangs are notorious ich magnets. Ich can be in the gills with no signs of infection on the body. Medicants only kill the parasite in the free swimming stage. They do nothing when it's on the fish. Ich has three stages.
1 Tomonts( dormant)
2 Trophonts( On the fish)
3 Tomites ( free swimming stage) This is the stage where medicants kill it.

Keep the garlic flowing unless you can get them back in Qt to treat properly. Keep me updated on their progress.

 

[mbrady]

Up Date:

Pulled the Hippo Tang out to a QT tank last night. He appears to be much more infected. On the good side he is still eating. I am treating with copper an feeding with garlic.

I left the yellow tang in the display tank. Although infected he does not seem to be in as bad shape as the Hippo.

Question: should I pull the yellow tang Out? My QT tank is only 10 gallons.

Lets assume I am able to nurse both fish back to good health.
I beleive this will be a four week process.

What happens when I introduce them back into the display tank?

Is it feasible to move all six fish to a 10 gallon qt tank. The QT tank has a 20 gallon fluvual filter. Treat the fish with copper and let the display tank sit dormat (no fish) for 4 weeks and hopfully
by that time the ich would have died off and the display tank would be ich free.

 

[Spracklcat]

Glad you rejected the No Sick Fish. It has been used multiple times in my home club with absolutely no good results.

 

[mbrady]

I am still treating the display tank with NSF hoping that it might have some positive effect.

Desperate people often hope for some magical cure. What I am learning is that there is none.

 

[Pescado Racing]

In general QT should be at least 30 days. This will allow you time to observe and "debug" your new fish, as well as acclimate him to aquarium living. Foods should be introduced also. Copper should be ran 14 days at .20 to be effective. Test copper levels whenever using. Hypo-salinity dips also are beneficial, especially in Tang sp. Osmotic Imbalance from lower salinity water causes cell walls to burst on some parasites. Ich and Turbellarians are a perfect examples for dips.To make Dip: 75% FWx 25% SW , be sure Temp./pH are equal. Those can be adjusted with buffer and a heater. There are a lot of Quarantine techniques,methods, medications, and antibiotics. Research before you use anything, it'll cost you less in the long run.

 

[SoGoneRG]

I've used Mark Weiss coral vital since I've had my tank...every 2 wks I add it to my tank and never had an ich problem ever...(5 years) Plus if you have corals they love it too...

-Garlic helps and also adding Vitamin C helps boost the immune system...They will look bad before getting better...Also anytime you finish a treatment do a water change of 20% usually 2 wks of treatment should cure it. At that time my skimmer is turned off, if you have one and take your carbon out as well...